Resumen de Between the Ontological and the Ontic: Nishitani Keiji on the Problem of Encounter
Following a remark by Charles Taylor, I take the problem of “understanding the other” to be “the great challenge of this century, both for politics and for social science.” I argue that exploring the logic of encounter sheds light on the ontological presuppositions of any attempt at understanding the other, which, eventually, will lead to a better understanding of the concept of understanding itself. For this purpose, I will inquire into the argumentative structure of Nishitani Keiji’s text “The I-Thou relation in Zen Buddhism.” As we will see, there are significant parallels between Nishitani’s discourse on encounter and Heidegger’s theory of truth; highlighting these parallels will help us to get a better understanding of Nishitani’s discourse. Nishitani and Heidegger both take an anti-Cartesian stance in that they develop a quasi-transcendental argument to reveal the possibility of concrete encounters and of truth (understood as correctness), respectively.
However, both attempts give rise to far-reaching philosophical problems. With regard to Nishitani, they concern the role of agency and the continuity of common practices in everyday life. As it will turn out, the example of Nishitani might well serve as a test for the logical consistency of any antiCartesian position.
